Ayesha Ura
Motivation: Restore the Solar Deliberative Caste: Journeys Anima Banner: A globe of bladelike golden rays. Ayesha Ura was born during the chaos of the Usurpation, somewhere in the Southeast, but raised in Heaven as a ward of the Bronze Faction. When she came of age, she received the Exaltation of Tammiz Ushun, the slain leader of the Gold Faction. Ayesha resisted this heritage for centuries. Indeed, no less than Bronze Faction leader Chejop Kejak became first her mentor, then her lover. Ironically, Kejak forced Ayesha to join the Gold Faction by pressing her to initiate into the Celestial Circle of sorcery. Ayesha had to make a great sacrifice… and she chose to embrace the memories of Tammiz Ushun and abandon the Bronze Faction. Ayesha’s rise to leadership of the Gold Faction took about a decade (it helped there was very little Gold Faction left). Over the centuries, she restored the faction—first as a minority opposed to Bronze Faction dominance in the Bureau of Destiny, then as a serious challenger when the Jade Prison broke and the faction suddenly had many Solars to exploit. Like her onetime mentor and archrival Kejak, Ayesha excels at multitasking and delegation. In addition to leading the Gold Faction, she is the highest-ranking Chosen of Journeys in the Bureau of Destiny. She chairs the Eastern Convention, the Convention on Essence-Wielders, and the Sub-Convention on Demons. She is also the puppet master behind Shen Aru, the figurehead leader of the Cult of the Illuminated. Somehow, she even finds time for special Bureau missions such as investigating the undersea wreckage of the Jade Prison. Fifteen centuries in Heaven’s secret service should leave Ayesha Ura cynical, but she isn’t. She truly believes that restoring the Solar Exalted to rule Creation will bring back all the Old Realm’s glories—and this time, the Viziers can prevent the Lawgivers from going mad. She has set Creation on this path and brooks no opposition. Ayesha is also one of the Viziers’ top experts on sorcery and occult matters in general, even learning a good deal of thaumaturgy to broaden her arcane studies and to fall back on when true sorcery could blow her cover. She looks forward to grooming a Lawgiver for initiation into the Adamant Circle to finally study the apex of the art (if only by proxy). Ayesha favors the Salinan school and trains other Exalted in its methods. However, her need to work with sorcerers and texts of other schools seems to prevent Ayesha from attaining full Salinan Enlightenment—much to her frustration. On the other hand, Supernatural martial arts bore Ayesha, and she never bothered to learn any. At 1500+ years old, Ayesha Ura looks like a slim and beautiful woman in her 20s. Her large, dark amber eyes seem to glow next to her dark skin and curly black hair, while her bright smile and easy laughter charm those who meet her. For all her skill at bureaucratic infighting and scheming, Ayesha is one of Heaven’s leading socialites. She does some of her best work at parties.